An architect by training, Karina had been dabbling in the arts from an early age. In high school, she tested her thespic talents onstage while designing sets and making props on the side. In college, she chose to take up architecture. She topped the architecture board then worked as project manager for a renowned architectural and interior design company.

A restless soul, she also had stints in marketing and direct selling. Eventually, she decided to put up a frame shop at the family residence in Merville, Paranaque in the process discovering the world of painting.

A peripatetic traveler, she has also visited the ancient cities of Ankor Wat in Cambodia, Ayutthaya in Thailand, Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam, parts of the eastern coast of China, as well as the former Portuguese colony of Macau.